Report: US Marines May Have Tampered With Evidence in Haditha Incident

A U.S. newspaper says U.S. Marines involved in the alleged murders of 24 Iraqi civilians last November appear to have withheld or destroyed evidence related to the incident.

The New York Times says military investigators have discovered the official logbook of the unit involved in the incident has been tampered with. All the pages from the day of the killings were missing, and have yet to be found.

The newspaper also says video taken by an aerial drone that flew over the area that day was not given to investigators until the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, Lieutenant-General Peter Chiarelli, intervened.

The Times based its story on information provided by two Defense Department officials, who agreed to speak to the newspaper only if their names were not published.

The Haditha case centers on allegations U.S. Marines murdered the civilians after a roadside bomb in the town killed a fellow Marine.

A separate investigation is being conducted into the killings themselves.